[archiesgems]

Im sorry but rats just arn't cute,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,even if you put a pink ribbon around its neck and a daisy behind its ear it still looks evil !!!!

[IMOmimey]

here here!

[joyfull]

agree rats are horrible but water voles are something completely different 

[IMOmimey]

water voles dont steal  chics and eat them, or spread the diseases rats do, they get my vote!

nobody has answered my initial question yet tho, anybody else having the mass swarms of darn crows that i'm getting these last few weeks?

[Yorkie]

I guess that if no-one answered your original question, it's because the answer is no.

Original questions are rarely overlooked if people have a positive answer 

[IMOmimey]

But we all seem so good at digression   

[8doubles]

Although there are far too many of the crow family locally they never get down among the chooks as the food dish is under the coop. The local sparrows share the water and the dustbath but even they haven`t started on the chook food.
 I think they don`t because there are lots of 5 star bird tables nearby.


ps The food is also taken in at night to deter ground vermin so this stops dawn raids by the crows.

[IMOmimey]

I live beside a small copse of trees, and when i go out in the morning to put the food down, they are all cawing and laying in wait. I regularly run down the garden, arms flapping, wailing like a banshee, but they only hop up into the trees and look at me like I'm mad, and fly back down when i go back in. Grrr, oh tried with an air rifle, but they just keep coming back. GRRRRRRR

[Roughlee Handled]

I know its expensive but you could go for a treadle feeder.  It works by opening when your chickens stand on the plate.  They will learn to do it.  Start by putting a brick on the treadle and after a few days remove the brick.



http://www.flytesofancy.co.uk/chickenhouses/Galvanised_Treadle_Feeder.html

It will also help with your rodent problems.

[SMD66]

I agree, treadle feeders are the future!  no theft of food by other animals.  I use them, less vermin about too.
I suppose it may take a while, but with what you save in food etc it would pay for itself eventually.

[Corinne]

I have a problem with jackdaws - as soon as I have finished feeding my chooks they are down helping themselves. It's driving me mad! I take the point about treadle feeders but will the jackdaws learn to use them too? I have bantams as well as ex-bats so the treadle would have to adjust to the lighter weight. I did try hanging a dead crow nearby but it didn't seem to put them off.  Any ideas very welcome.

[SMD66]

there are 2 sizes of treadle feeder and I have both, the smaller one seems to have a lighter pedal so I think it would be ok for bantams, I assume though that jackdaws would be too light unless they ganged up and all got on at once!

[judrop]

  Hiya , just a thought , cats ?
 We dont seem to have any of the above probs ( fingers crossed ) and we have two moggies,  worth a try if you dont ?
Good luck Ju X

[Roughlee Handled]

And the price of cat food over one year is?
Toll on the local small bird population is?

[judrop]

And the price of cat food over one year is?
Toll on the local small bird population is?

Point taken roughlee , guess I am just a sucker for moggies, and we used to keep rats too when my boys were small, interestingly, they are  emotionally,very like people you know !LOL
Ju X